BRKR · Read the filing

ITEM 1A RISK FACTORS

The following risk factors should be considered in conjunction with the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This report may include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. In addition to those risk factors discussed elsewhere in this report, we identify the following risk factors, which could affect our actual results and cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Risk Factor Summary

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described in Item 1A “Risk Factors.” These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

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Supply chain issues, including increasing demand for certain components used in our products and production delays, has and could continue to result in significant additional costs and manufacturing inefficiencies, which could adversely impact our revenue, increase our manufacturing costs and have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

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Unfavorable economic or political conditions in the countries in which we operate may have an adverse impact on our business results or financial condition;

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Adverse global economic conditions, and geopolitical tensions, including in the Middle East, China and other regions, and other conditions that impact our increasingly global operations could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and liquidity.

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We derive a significant portion of our revenue from international sales and are subject to the operational risks of doing business in foreign countries;

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If our products fail to achieve and sustain sufficient market acceptance across their broad intended range of applications, we will not generate expected revenue;

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Our products compete in markets that are subject to rapid technological change, and one or more of the technologies underlying our products could be made obsolete by new technology;

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If investment in life and material science research spending declines, our ability to generate revenue may suffer;

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Any reduction in the capital resources or government funding of our customers could reduce our sales and impede our ability to generate revenue;

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Disruptions at any of our manufacturing facilities could adversely affect our business;

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In addition to the risks applicable to our life science and materials analysis products, our CBRNE detection products are subject to a number of additional risks, including lengthy product development and contract negotiation periods and certain risks inherent in long-term government contracts;

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Our debt may adversely affect our cash flow and may restrict our investment opportunities or limit our activities;

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If we lose our strategic partners, our marketing and sales efforts could be impaired;

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We face risks related to sales through distributors and other third parties that we do not control, which could harm our business;

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Our operations are dependent upon a limited number of suppliers and contract manufacturers;

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Supply shortages and increasing prices of raw materials could adversely affect the gross profit;

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If we are unable to effectively protect our intellectual property, third parties may use our technology, which would impair our ability to compete in our markets;

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We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents that are brought by us which could be expensive and time consuming and, if determined adversely, could adversely affect our patent position;

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Our manufacture and sale of products could lead to product liability claims for which we could have substantial liability;

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We are subject to environmental laws and regulations, which may impose significant compliance or other costs on us; and

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We operate as an entrepreneurial, decentralized company, which presents both benefits and certain risks. In particular, significant growth in a decentralized operating model may put strain on certain business group resources and our corporate functions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Supply chain issues, including increasing demand for certain components used in our products and production delays, has and could continue result in significant additional costs and manufacturing inefficiencies, which could adversely impact our revenue, increase our manufacturing costs and have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

We have experienced supply chain interruptions as a result of general global economic conditions, the war in Ukraine, ongoing conflicts between the United States and China, geopolitical tensions, a tight labor market and other factors, including natural events and disasters. Various factors, including increased demand for certain components and production delays, are contributing to shortages of certain components used in our products including microelectronic components and increased difficulties in our ability to obtain a consistent supply of materials at stable pricing levels. Supply shortages and longer lead times for components used in our products, including limited source components, have and can result in significant additional costs and inefficiencies in manufacturing. A shortage of key components has in the past and may in the future cause a significant disruption to our production activities, which could have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. If we are unsuccessful in resolving any such component shortages in a timely manner, we could experience a significant adverse impact on the timing of our revenue, a possible loss of revenue, or an increase in manufacturing costs, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our operating results.

Unfavorable economic or political conditions in the countries in which we operate may have an adverse impact on our business results or financial condition.

Our businesses and results of operations are affected by international, national and regional economic and political conditions. Our businesses or financial results may be adversely impacted by unfavorable changes in economic or political conditions in the countries and markets in which we operate, including, among others, adverse changes in interest rates or tax rates, volatility in financial and commodity markets, contraction in the availability of credit in the marketplace, geopolitical tensions and changes in capital spending patterns.

Our revenue from U.S. operations represented approximately 26% and 28% of total consolidated revenue for fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our revenue from operations in Europe represented approximately 33% of total consolidated revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2022 respectively. Our revenue from operations in the Asia Pacific region represented approximately 33% and 32% of total consolidated revenue in each of the corresponding periods. Economic factors that could adversely influence demand for our products include the impact of geopolitical tensions and any related sanctions implemented, continued uncertainty about global economic conditions, including as a result of the pandemic, leading to ongoing reductions in investment, changes in government spending levels and/or priorities, the size and availability of government budgets, customers’ and suppliers’ access to credit and other macroeconomic factors affecting government, academic or industrial spending behavior. Slower economic growth or a deterioration in economic conditions could result in a decrease in government funding for scientific research, a delay in orders from current or potential customers or a reduction in purchases of our products.

We cannot predict how changes in economic conditions or political instability will affect our customers and suppliers or how any negative impact on our customers and suppliers might adversely impact our business results or financial condition.

As a global company, our performance is affected by global economic conditions as well as geopolitical tensions and other conditions with global reach. In recent years, concerns about the global economic outlook have adversely affected market and business conditions in general. Macroeconomic weakness and uncertainty make it more difficult for us to manage our operations and accurately forecast revenue, gross margin and expenses. Geopolitical tensions, including the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and related economic sanctions, the conflict in Israel, Palestine and surrounding areas, the possible expansion of such conflicts and potential geopolitical consequences, the ongoing tensions between the United States and China, tariff and trade policy changes, and increasing potential of conflict involving countries in Asia that are significant to the Company's supply chain operations, such as Taiwan and China, have resulted in increasing global tensions and create uncertainty for global commerce. As a result of the adverse economic impacts resulting from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, such as increased prices for and a reduced supply of key metals used in our products, the Company has ceased its Russian operations. Sustained or worsening of global economic conditions and increasing geopolitical tensions may increase our cost of doing business, materially disrupt our supply chain operations, cause our customers to reduce or delay spending and intensify pricing pressures. We have recently experienced an increase in inflationary pressures in many of the jurisdictions in which we operate. We have and may continue to offset the effect of these inflationary pressures by increasing the prices of our products to customers. In 2023, however, our price increases did not fully offset the effects of inflation costs and may not offset any effects experienced during 2024. Any or all of these factors could negatively affect demand for our products and our business, financial condition and result of operations.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from international sales and are subject to the operational risks of doing business in foreign countries.

International sales account, and are expected to continue to account, for a significant portion of our total revenues. Our revenue from non-U.S. operations represented approximately 74% and 72% of our total consolidated revenue for fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our international operations are, and will continue to be, subject to a variety of risks associated with conducting business internationally, many of which are beyond our control. These risks, which may adversely affect our ability to achieve and maintain profitability and our ability to sell our products internationally, include:

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changes in foreign currency translation rates;

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changes in regulatory requirements;

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legislation and regulation, including tariffs, relating to the import or export of high technology products, which legislation and regulation may conflict with U.S. law and may have an adverse impact on our business results;

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the imposition of government controls;

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political and economic instability, the possibility of an economic recession in certain key markets such as Germany, international hostilities and resulting sanctions, acts of terrorism and governmental restrictions, inflation, trade relationships and military and political alliances;

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costs and risks of deploying systems in foreign countries;

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compliance with export laws and controls and trade embargoes in multiple jurisdictions, which may conflict with U.S. law and may have an adverse impact on our business results;

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limited intellectual property rights;

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the burden of complying with a wide variety of complex foreign laws and treaties, including unfavorable labor regulations, specifically those applicable to our European operations; and

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compliance with U.S. and local laws affecting the activities of U.S. companies abroad, including the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and local anti-bribery laws.

The United States has implemented tariffs on certain imported goods. These additional tariffs could include items imported by us from China or other countries. In addition, China has imposed tariffs on a wide range of American products in retaliation for these new American tariffs. As a result, there is a concern that the imposition of additional tariffs by the United States could result in the adoption of additional tariffs by China and other countries as well. Any resulting trade war could negatively impact the global market for scientific instruments and could have a significant adverse effect on our business. The imposition of tariffs on items imported by us from China or other countries could increase our costs and could result in lowering our gross margin on products sold. Conversely, any imposition by China of tariffs on items that we export to China could adversely impact our customers’ ability to purchase our

products and our competitive position in China or increase our costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We must also comply with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other similar regulations in other countries, including the UK Data Protection Act 2018. These laws include strong protections for individual privacy rights of residents of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and UK. GDPR purports to apply extraterritorially such that it can apply to businesses that are not established within the EEA, but that process personal data of individuals located within the European Union in connection with the offering of goods and services within the EEA. There are significant fines associated with non-compliance. In 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, a key mechanism for transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States and altered the international data transfer under GDPR. Even though Bruker did not rely on the EU-US Privacy Shield for its transfers to the United States, Bruker has conducted a transfer impact assessment to understand the risks of its EU-US persona data transfers and implemented the new EU Standard Contractual Clauses (including the UK addendum). More recently, the European Commission and United States have agreed on a new EU-US Transatlantic Data Privacy Framework that may stabilize rules for transfers of personal data from the EU to the United States. However, ongoing litigation and challenges relating to such transfers could cause disruption of data transfers and have a material adverse effect on our business.

While the impact of these factors is difficult to predict, any one or more of these factors could adversely affect our operations in the future.

Our competitive position and reported financial results may be adversely affected when we exchange foreign currency received from international sales into U.S. Dollars and by fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

A significant portion of our business is conducted in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, which is our reporting currency. As a result, currency fluctuations among the U.S. Dollar and the currencies in which we do business could cause the price of our products to be more or less competitive than our principal competitors’ products. Currency fluctuations will increase or decrease our cost structure relative to those of our competitors, which could lessen the demand for our products and affect our competitive position. From time to time, we enter into certain hedging transactions and/or option and foreign currency exchange contracts which are intended to offset some of the market risk associated with our sales denominated in foreign currencies. We cannot predict the effectiveness of these transactions or their impact upon our future operating results, and from time to time they may negatively affect our quarterly earnings.

In addition to the foreign currency exposure associated with differences between where our products are manufactured and sold by us and our competitors, our exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations results from the currency translation exposure associated with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, as well as from the exposure associated with transactions of our subsidiaries that are denominated in a currency other than the respective subsidiary’s functional currency. While our financial results are reported in U.S. Dollars, the financial statements of many of our subsidiaries outside the U.S. are prepared using the local currency as the functional currency. During consolidation, these results are translated into U.S. Dollars by applying appropriate exchange rates. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate of the U.S. Dollar relative to the local currencies in which our foreign subsidiaries report could cause significant fluctuations in our reported results. Moreover, as exchange rates vary, revenue and other operating results may differ materially from our expectations. The effects of changes in currency exchange rates decreased our 2023 revenue by approximately $11.2 million, or 0.4%, decreased our 2022 revenue by approximately $168.0 million, or 6.9%, and increased our 2021 revenue by approximately $43.3 million, or 2.2%. Adjustments resulting from financial statement translations are included as a separate component of shareholders' equity. We recorded net gains from currency translation adjustments of $15.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2023, and net losses of $22.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Additionally, to the extent monetary assets and liabilities, including cash and debt, are held in a different currency than the reporting subsidiary’s functional currency, fluctuations in currency exchange rates may have a significant impact on our reported financial results, and may lead to increased earnings volatility. We may record significant gains or losses related to both the translation of assets and liabilities held by our subsidiaries into local currencies and the re-measurement of inter-company receivables and loan balances.

Goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets are subject to impairment which could negatively impact our operating results.

We have recorded goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets that must be periodically evaluated for potential impairment. We assess the realizability of the reported goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets annually, as well as whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the assets may be impaired. These events or circumstances generally include operating losses or a significant decline in the earnings associated with the reporting unit these assets are reported within. A decline in our stock price and market capitalization may also cause us to consider whether goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets may require an impairment assessment. Our ability to realize the value of these assets will depend on the future cash flows of the reporting unit in addition to how well we integrate the businesses we acquire. In connection with certain restructuring activities during fiscal 2023, the Company performed impairment assessments of its long-lived assets comparing the carrying values to the sum of their undiscounted future cash flows. Based on the results of these analyses, the Company determined there were no impairments to intangibles assets and goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021. However, the Company recorded an impairment loss for certain right of use assets as disclosed in Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

If our products fail to achieve and sustain sufficient market acceptance across their broad intended range of applications, we will not generate expected revenue.

Our business strategy depends on our ability to successfully commercialize a broad range of products based on our technology platforms, including magnetic resonance technology, pre-clinical imaging technology, mass spectrometry technology, X-ray technology, atomic force microscopy technology, ChipCytometry technology, stylus and optical metrology technology, fluorescence microscopy technology, infrared technology and superconducting magnet technologies for use in a variety of life science, chemistry and materials analysis applications. Some of our products have only recently been commercially launched and have achieved only limited sales to date. The commercial success of our products depends on obtaining and expanding market acceptance by a diverse array of industrial, academic, clinical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, applied, medical research and governmental customers around the world. We may fail to achieve or sustain substantial market acceptance for our products across the full range of our intended applications or in one or more of our principal intended applications. Any such failure could decrease our sales and revenue. To succeed, we must convince substantial numbers of potential customers to invest in new systems or replace their existing techniques with techniques employing our systems. Limited funding available for capital acquisitions by our customers, as well as our customers’ own internal purchasing approval policies, could hinder market acceptance of our products. Our intended customers may be reluctant to make the substantial capital investment generally needed to acquire our products or to incur the training and other costs involved with replacing their existing systems with our products. We also may not be able to convince our intended customers that our systems are an attractive and cost-effective alternative to other technologies and systems for the acquisition, analysis and management of molecular, cellular and microscopic information. Because of these and other factors, our products may fail to gain or sustain market acceptance.

Our products compete in markets that are subject to rapid technological change, and one or more of the technologies underlying our products could be made obsolete by new technology.

The market for discovery and analysis tools is characterized by rapid technological change and frequent new product introductions. Rapidly changing technology could make some or all of our product lines obsolete unless we are able to continually improve our existing products and develop new products. Because substantially all of our products are based on our technology platforms, including magnetic resonance technology, mass spectrometry technology, X-ray technology, atomic force microscopy technology, fluorescence microscopy technology, ChipCytometry technology, stylus and optical metrology technology and infrared technology, we are particularly vulnerable to any technological advances that would make these techniques obsolete as the basis for analytical systems in any of our markets. To meet the evolving needs of our customers, we must rapidly and continually enhance our current and planned products and services and develop and introduce new products and services. In addition, our product lines are based on complex technologies that are subject to rapid change as new technologies are developed and introduced in the marketplace. We may have difficulty in keeping abreast of the rapid changes affecting each of the different markets we serve or intend to serve. If we fail to develop and introduce products in a timely manner in response to changing technology, market demands or the requirements of our customers, our product sales may decline, and we could experience significant losses.

We face substantial competition. If we fail to compete effectively, it could harm our business results and materially impact the value of our company.

We face substantial competition in our industries, and we expect that competition in all of our markets will increase further. Currently, our principal competition comes from established companies providing products using existing technologies that perform many of the same functions for which we market our products. A number of our competitors have expanded their market share in

recent years through business combinations. Other companies also may choose to enter our fields in the future. Our competitors may develop or market products that are more effective or commercially attractive than our current or future products or that may render our products obsolete. Competition has in the past subjected, and is likely in the future to subject, our products to pricing pressure. Certain competitors have more experience in the market and substantially greater financial, operational, marketing and technical resources than we do, which could give them a competitive advantage in areas such as research and development, production, marketing and distribution. Our ability to compete successfully will depend, in part, on our ability to develop proprietary products that reach the market in a timely manner and are technologically superior to, less expensive than, or more cost-effective than, other currently marketed products.

If investment in life and material science research spending declines, our ability to generate revenue may suffer.

We are dependent, both directly and indirectly, upon general investment in life science research, particularly in the research and development budgets of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and in material science research as well as upon the financial condition and funding priorities of various governments and government agencies. Since our inception, both we and our academic collaborators and customers have benefited from various governmental contracts and research grants. Whether we or our academic collaborators will continue to be able to attract these grants depends not only on the quality of our products, but also on general spending patterns of public institutions.

Any reduction in the capital resources or government funding of our customers could reduce our sales and impede our ability to generate revenue.

A significant portion of our sales are capital purchases by our customers. The spending policies of our customers could have a significant effect on the demand for our products. These policies are based on a wide variety of factors, including the resources available to make purchases, the spending priorities among various types of equipment, policies regarding spending during recessionary periods and changes in the political climate.

Any changes in capital spending or changes in the capital budgets of our customers could significantly reduce demand for our products. The capital resources of our life science and other corporate customers may be limited by the availability of equity or debt financing. Any significant decline in research and development expenditures by our life science and material science customers could significantly decrease our sales. In addition, a substantial portion of our sales are to non-profit and government entities, which are dependent on government support for scientific research. Any decline in this support could decrease the ability of these customers to purchase our products.

Disruptions at any of our manufacturing facilities could adversely affect our business.

We have manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Europe, Israel and Malaysia. Many of our products are developed and manufactured at single locations, with limited alternate facilities. If we experience any significant disruption of those facilities for any reason, such as war or other geopolitical conflicts, strikes or other labor unrest, power interruptions, fire, earthquakes, or other events beyond our control, we may be unable to manufacture the relevant products at previous levels or at all. A reduction or interruption in manufacturing could harm our customer relationships, impede our ability to generate revenues from our backlog or obtain new orders and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

If employees were to engage in a strike or other work stoppage or interruption, our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity could be materially adversely affected.

Many of our employees are represented by workers’ councils and labor unions in certain jurisdictions, primarily in Germany and France. If disputes with these employees arise, or if our workers engage in a strike or other work stoppage or interruption, we could experience a significant disruption of, or inefficiencies in, our operations or incur higher labor costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

Our CBRNE detection products are subject to many of the same risks associated with our life science products, including vulnerability to rapid technological change, dependence on mass spectrometry and other technologies and substantial competition. In addition, our CBRNE detection products and certain FT-IR products are generally sold to government agencies under long-term contracts. These contracts generally involve lengthy pre-contract negotiations and product development. We may be required to devote substantial working capital and other resources prior to obtaining product orders. As a result, we may incur substantial costs

before we recognize revenue from these products. Moreover, in return for larger, longer-term contracts, our customers for these products often demand more stringent acceptance criteria. These criteria may also cause delays in our ability to recognize revenue from sales of these products. Furthermore, we may not be able to accurately predict in advance our costs to fulfill our obligations under these long-term contracts. If we fail to accurately predict our costs, due to inflation or other factors, we could incur significant losses. Also, the presence or absence of such contracts may cause substantial variation in our results of operations between fiscal periods and, as a result, our results of operations for any given fiscal period may not be predictive of our results for subsequent fiscal periods. The resulting uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our stock price.

We rely on information technology to support our operations and reporting environments. A security failure of that technology, including with respect to cybersecurity, could impact our ability to operate our businesses effectively, adversely affect our financial results, damage our reputation and expose us to potential liability or litigation.

We use information systems to carry out our operations and maintain our business records. Some systems are internally managed, and some are maintained by third-party service providers. Our ability to conduct business could be materially and adversely affected if these systems or resources are compromised, damaged or fail. This could be a result of a cyber-incident, social engineering scam, hacking, phishing attempts, malware, natural disaster, hardware or software corruption, failure or error, telecommunications system failure, service provider error or failure, intentional or unintentional personnel actions or other disruption.

In the ordinary course of business, we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, other proprietary information and personally identifiable information. Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks by hackers, including intrusions designed to access and exfiltrate information and to disrupt and lock-up access to systems for the purpose of demanding ransom payments, or breached due to employee error, malfeasance, or other disruptions. Further, a breach of our security systems or infrastructure, or those of our customers, suppliers and other business partners, could result in the disclosure, misuse, corruption or loss of confidential information, including intellectual property, personally identifiable information and other critical data of the Company and our employees, customers suppliers and other business partners. If this data is compromised, destroyed or inappropriately disclosed, it could have a material adverse effect, including damage to our reputation, and our relationships with our employees, customers, suppliers and other business partners, decrease the value of our investments in research, development and engineering, disrupt our manufacturing processes, result in significant expenses to address and resolve the issues, fines or litigation or other proceedings by affected individuals, customers, suppliers, business partners or regulatory authorities.

Our debt may adversely affect our cash flows and may restrict our investment opportunities or limit our activities.

As of December 31, 2023, we had outstanding an aggregate principal amount of debt totaling approximately $1,282.8 million. We also had the ability to borrow an additional $599.6 million available under our existing credit facility. Most of our outstanding debt is in the United States and there are substantial cash requirements in the United States to service debt interest obligations, fund operations, capital expenditures and our declared dividends and finance potential acquisitions or share repurchases. Our ability to satisfy our debt obligations and meet our other liquidity needs depends on our future operating performance and on economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow to meet our debt obligations or provide sufficient funds for our other objectives. If we are unable to service our debt or obtain additional financing, we may be forced to delay minority acquisitions, capital expenditures or research and development expenditures or suspend our dividend payments and share repurchases. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms acceptable to us or at all. Furthermore, a majority of our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments is generated from foreign operations, with $398.4 million, or 81.6% held by foreign subsidiaries as of December 31, 2023. We may incur certain tax consequences relocating cash from our foreign operations to the United States. Our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted if we are unable to maintain a sufficient level of cash flow in the United States to address our funding requirements through cash from operations and timely repatriation of cash from overseas or other sources obtained at an acceptable cost.

Additionally, the agreements governing our debt require that we maintain certain financial ratios related to maximum leverage and minimum interest coverage and contain affirmative and negative covenants, including among others, timely provision of audited consolidated financial statements, restrictions on liens, indebtedness of the Company and its subsidiaries, asset sales, dividends and transactions with affiliates. Our ability to comply with these financial restrictions and covenants is dependent on our operations and performance, which is subject to prevailing economic conditions and other factors, including factors that are beyond our control such as foreign currency translation rates and interest rates. Our failure to comply with any of these restrictions or covenants may result in an event of default under the applicable debt instrument, which could permit acceleration of the debt under the facility and require us to prepay the debt before its scheduled due date.

Changes in our effective income tax rate could adversely affect our results of operations.

We are subject to income taxes in both the United States and various foreign jurisdictions and our domestic and international tax liabilities are largely dependent upon the distribution of income among these different jurisdictions. Various factors may have favorable or unfavorable effects on our effective income tax rate. These factors include interpretations of existing tax laws, the accounting for stock options and other share-based compensation, changes in tax laws and rates, future levels of research and development spending, changes in accounting standards, changes in the mix of earnings in the various tax jurisdictions in which we operate, the outcome of examinations by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities, the accuracy of our estimates for unrecognized tax benefits and realization of deferred tax assets and changes in overall levels of pre-tax earnings. A change in tax laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation, of any country in which we operate could result in a higher tax rate on our earnings, which could result in a significant negative impact on our earnings and cash flow from operations. For example, on August 16, 2022, the President of the United States signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”), a tax and spending package that introduces several tax-related provisions, including a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax (“CAMT”) on certain large corporations and a 1% excise tax on certain corporate stock repurchases. The IRA provisions, which became effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2023, did not have a material impact on the Company during the year ended December 31, 2023.

In December 2021, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/G20 Inclusive Framework, agreed to implement a global minimum tax regime for multinationals known as ‘Pillar Two’. The OECD has released the Pillar Two model rules (the Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal, or ‘GloBE’) to reform international corporate taxation. The Pillar Two model rules provide guidance for a global minimum tax. This guidance lays out a common approach for adopting the global minimum tax and enacting local legislation codifying the provisions that all 142 countries in the Inclusive Framework agreed to by consensus. The EU member states have agreed to adopt these rules in two stages with the first component effective on January 1, 2024, while the second component will be effective January 1, 2025. Non-EU countries have enacted or are expected to enact legislation on a similar timeline. Certain countries in which we operate have already enacted legislation to adopt the Pillar Two framework, while several other countries are expected to also implement similar legislation with varying effective dates in the future. When and how this framework is adopted or enacted by the various countries in which we do business will increase tax complexity and may increase uncertainty and adversely affect our provision for income taxes in the U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions.

We also assess the impact of various international tax reform proposals and modifications to existing tax treaties in all jurisdictions where we have operations that could result in a material impact on our income taxes. However, if such proposals were enacted, or if modifications were made to certain existing treaties, the consequences could have a materially adverse impact on us, including increasing our tax burden, increasing costs of our tax compliance or otherwise adversely affecting our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Various international tax risks could adversely affect our earnings and cash flows.

We are subject to international tax risks. We could be subject to double taxation on income related to operations in certain countries that do not have tax treaties with the country of the trading partner. In addition, we may have a higher effective income tax rate than that of other companies in our industry if losses incurred by one operating company are not available to offset the income of an operating company located in another country. Also, distributions of earnings and other payments received from our subsidiaries may be subject to withholding taxes imposed by the countries where they are operating or are incorporated. If these foreign countries do not have income tax treaties with the United States or the countries where our subsidiaries are incorporated, we could be subject to high rates of withholding taxes on these distributions and payments. Additionally, the amount of the credit that we may claim against our U.S. federal income tax for foreign income taxes paid or accrued is subject to many limitations which may significantly restrict our ability to claim a credit for all of the foreign taxes we pay.

The unpredictability and fluctuation of our quarterly results may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.

Our revenues and results of operations have in the past and will in the future vary from quarter to quarter due to a number of factors, many of which are outside our control and any of which may cause our stock price to fluctuate. The primary factors that may affect us include the following:

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the timing of sales of our products and services;

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the timing of recognizing revenue and deferred revenue under GAAP;

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changes in our pricing policies or the pricing policies of our competitors;

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increases in sales and marketing, product development or administration expenses;

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the mix of services provided by us and third-party contractors;

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our ability to attain and maintain quality levels for our products; and

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costs related to acquisitions of technology or businesses.

We can experience quarter-to-quarter fluctuations in our operating results as a result of various factors, some of which are outside our control, such as:

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the timing of governmental stimulus programs and academic research budgets;

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the time it takes between the date customer orders and deposits are received, systems are shipped and accepted by our customers and full payment is received;

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foreign currency exchange rates;

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the time it takes for us to receive critical materials to manufacture our products;

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general economic conditions, geopolitical tensions and other conditions that impact our global operations;

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the time it takes to satisfy local customs requirements and other export/import requirements;

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the time it takes for customers to construct or prepare their facilities for our products; and

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the time required to obtain governmental licenses.

These factors have in the past affected the amount and timing of revenue recognized on sales of our products and receipt of related payments and will likely continue to do so in the future. Accordingly, our operating results in any particular quarter may not necessarily be an indication of any future quarter’s operating performance.

Historically we have higher levels of revenue in the fourth quarter of the year compared to the first, second and third quarters, which we believe is primarily the result of our customers’ budgeting cycles. Quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance. It is likely that in some future quarters, our results of operations may be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors. In this event, the price of our common stock may fall.

The ownership of our shares is highly concentrated, which could cause or exacerbate volatility in our share price as well as have significant influence over us.

As of February 6, 2024, Laukien family members, including our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) Frank Laukien and his brother, Joerg Laukien, owned, in the aggregate, approximately 33% of our outstanding common stock. We may also repurchase shares in the future, which could further increase the concentration of our share ownership. Because of this reduced liquidity, the trading of relatively small quantities of shares by our shareholders could disproportionately influence the price of those shares in either direction. The price for our shares could, for example, decline precipitously if a large number of our shares were sold on the market without commensurate demand, as compared to a company with greater trading liquidity that could better absorb those sales without adverse impact on its share price. These shareholders may also exercise substantial influence over all matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company and will make some transactions difficult to accomplish without the support of these shareholders.

The loss of key personnel or an inability to attract and retain additional personnel could affect our ability to successfully grow our business.

We are highly dependent upon the continued service and performance of our CEO and other members of senior management and key finance, technical, scientific and production personnel, any of whom may cease their employment with us at any time with minimal advance notice. Because the expertise of these individuals is highly specific and takes years to develop, we face intense competition for these individuals from many other companies. The loss of one or more of our key employees may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives, and our failure to attract and retain suitably qualified individuals or to adequately plan for succession could have an adverse effect on our ability to implement our business plan.

Dividends on our common stock could be reduced or eliminated in the future.

In recent years, we have paid dividends on our common stock. In February 2024, we announced that our Board of Directors (“Board”) had declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share that will be payable in March 2024. There is no guarantee that such dividends will continue indefinitely. In the future, our Board may determine to reduce or eliminate our common stock dividend in order to fund investments for growth, repurchase shares or conserve capital resources.

Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties

If we lose our strategic partners, our marketing and sales efforts could be impaired.

A substantial portion of our sales of selected products consists of sales to third parties who incorporate our products into their systems. These third parties are responsible for the marketing and sales of their systems. We have little or no control over their marketing and sales activities or how they use their resources. Our present or future strategic partners may or may not purchase sufficient quantities of products from us or perform appropriate marketing and sales activities. In addition, if we are unable to maintain our relationships with strategic partners, our businesses may suffer. Failures by our present or future strategic partners, or our inability to maintain existing or enter into new arrangements with strategic partners for product distribution, could materially impede the growth of our businesses and our ability to generate sufficient revenue and profits.

We face risks related to sales through distributors and other third parties that we do not control, which could harm our business.

We sell some products through third party agents, including distributors and value-added resellers. This exposes us to various risks, including competitive pressure, concentration of sales volumes, credit risks, and compliance risks. We may rely on one or a few key distributors for a product or market, and the loss of these distributors could reduce our revenue and net earnings. Distributors may also face financial difficulties, including bankruptcy, which could harm our collection of accounts receivable. Risks related to our use of distributors may reduce sales, increase expenses, and weaken our competitive position. Moreover, violations of the FCPA or similar anti-bribery laws by distributors or other third-party agents could materially and adversely impact our business, reputation and results of operations.

Dependence on contract manufacturing may adversely affect our ability to bring products to market and damage our reputation.

As part of our efforts to streamline our operations and reduce our operating costs, we outsource certain aspects of our manufacturing processes and continue to evaluate additional outsourcing. If our contract manufacturers fail to perform their obligations in a timely manner or at satisfactory quality levels, our ability to bring products to market and our reputation could suffer. For example, during a market upturn, our contract manufacturers may be unable to meet our demand requirements, which may preclude us from fulfilling our customers’ orders on a timely basis. The ability of these manufacturers to perform is largely outside our control. Additionally, changing or replacing our contract manufacturers could cause disruptions or delays. Problems with outsourced manufacturing could result in lower revenues and unexecuted efficiencies, and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations are dependent upon a limited number of suppliers and contract manufacturers.

We currently purchase components used in our products from a limited number of outside suppliers. Our reliance on a limited number of suppliers could result in time delays associated with redesigning a product due to an inability to obtain an adequate supply of required components and reduced control over pricing, quality and timely delivery. Any of these factors could adversely affect our revenues and profitability. In particular, our X-ray microanalysis business, which manufactures and sells accessories for electron microscopes, is partially dependent on cooperation from larger manufacturers of electron microscopes. Additionally, our elemental analysis business purchases certain optical detectors from a single supplier, PerkinElmer, Inc., the sole supplier of these detector components. BSI CALID purchases detectors and power supplies from sole or limited source suppliers and its focal plane array detectors from a single supplier, Lockheed Martin Corporation. Similarly, BSI BioSpin obtains various components from sole or limited source suppliers and BEST obtains various raw materials and uses key production equipment from sole or limited source suppliers or contract manufacturers. There are limited, if any, available alternatives to these suppliers. The existence of shortages of these components or the failure of delivery with regard to these components could have a material adverse effect upon our revenues and margins. In addition, price increases from these suppliers or contract manufacturers could have a material adverse effect upon our gross margins.

Because of the scarcity of some components, we may be unable to obtain an adequate supply of components, or we may be required to pay higher prices or to purchase components of lesser quality. Any delay or interruption in the supply of these or other components could impair our ability to manufacture and deliver our products, harm our reputation and cause a reduction in our revenues. In addition, any increase in the cost of the components that we use in our products could make our products less competitive

and decrease our gross profits. We may not be able to obtain sufficient quantities of required components on the same or substantially the same terms. Additionally, consolidation among our suppliers could result in other sole source suppliers for us in the future. Other events that could affect our ability to source materials, manufacture or distribute our products include fire, natural disaster or extreme weather or a pandemic and the impact of those events on our and our suppliers’ and contract manufacturers’ operations.

Supply shortages and increasing prices of raw materials could adversely affect our gross profit.

The last few years have seen periodic supply shortages and sharp increases in the prices for various raw materials, in part due to high demand from developing countries, which have been exacerbated by the war between Russia and Ukraine, on-going conflicts between the United States and China and other geopolitical tensions. We rely on some of these materials for the production of our products. For example, in our superconducting magnet production, both for the horizontal and vertical magnet series, we rely on the availability of copper, steel and other metallic raw materials as well as niobium titanium for the production of traditional low-temperature superconducting magnets, wires and devices. Higher prices for these commodities will increase the production cost of superconducting wires and superconducting magnets and may adversely affect gross profits.

The prices of copper and certain other raw materials used for superconductors have increased significantly over the last decade. Since copper is a main constituent of low temperature superconductors, this may affect the price of superconducting wire. This type of increase would have an immediate effect on the production costs of superconducting magnets and may negatively affect the profit margins for those products.

In order to operate superconducting magnets, we and our customers rely on liquid helium. Helium is controlled by the Federal Helium Reserve and is subject to price changes. Shortages of liquid helium associated with federal price controls or depleted natural reserves could drive increases in helium pricing and have an adverse impact on producing and operating our superconducting magnets, which may negatively impact the profit margins of those products.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property Rights

Our success depends on our ability to operate without infringing or misappropriating the proprietary rights of others.

Our commercial success depends on avoiding the infringement of other parties’ patents and proprietary rights as well as avoiding the breach of any licenses relating to our technologies and products. Given that there may be patents of which we are unaware, particularly in the United States where patent applications are confidential, avoidance of patent infringement may be difficult. Various third parties hold patents which may relate to our technology, and we may be found in the future to infringe these or other patents or proprietary rights of third parties, either with products we are currently marketing or developing or with new products which we may develop in the future. If a third-party holding rights under a patent successfully asserts an infringement claim with respect to any of our current or future products, we may be prevented from manufacturing or marketing our infringing product in the country or countries covered by the patent we infringe, unless we can obtain a license from the patent holder. We may not be able to obtain such a license on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, especially if the patent holder is a competitor. In addition, even if we can obtain a license, it may be non-exclusive, which will permit others to practice the same technology licensed to us. We also may be required to pay substantial damages to the patent holder in the event of infringement. Under some circumstances in the United States these damages could include damages equal to triple the actual damages the patent holder incurs. If we have supplied infringing products to third parties for marketing by them or licensed third parties to manufacture, use or market infringing products, we may be obligated to indemnify these third parties for any damages they may be required to pay to the patent holder and for any losses the third parties may sustain themselves as the result of lost sales or license payments they are required to make to the patent holder. Any successful infringement action brought against us may also adversely affect marketing of the infringing product in other markets not covered by the infringement action, as well as our marketing of other products based on similar technology. Furthermore, we will suffer adverse consequences from a successful infringement action against us even if the action is subsequently reversed on appeal, nullified through another action or resolved by settlement with the patent holder. The damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may be significant. As a result, any successful infringement action against us may harm our business.

If we are unable to effectively protect our intellectual property, third parties may use our technology, which would impair our ability to compete in our markets.

Our continued success will depend in significant part on our ability to obtain and maintain meaningful patent protection for our products throughout the world. We rely on patents to protect a significant part of our intellectual property and to enhance our competitive position. However, our presently pending or future patent applications may not issue as patents, and any patent previously issued to us may be challenged, invalidated, held unenforceable or circumvented. Furthermore, the claims in patents which have been issued, or which may be issued to us in the future, may not be sufficiently broad to prevent third parties from producing competing products similar to our products. In addition, the laws of various foreign countries in which we compete may not protect our intellectual property to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Failure to obtain adequate patent protection for our proprietary technology could materially impair our ability to be commercially competitive.

In addition to patent protection, we also rely on the protection of trade secrets, know-how and confidential and proprietary information. To maintain the confidentiality of trade secrets and proprietary information, we generally seek to enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and strategic partners upon the commencement of a relationship with us. However, we may not obtain these agreements in all circumstances. In the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of this information, these agreements, even if obtained, may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other confidential information. In addition, adequate remedies may not exist in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of this information. The loss or exposure of our trade secrets and other proprietary information would impair our competitive advantages and could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition and future growth prospects. Furthermore, others may have, or may in the future independently develop, substantially similar or superior know-how and technology.

In order to protect or enforce our patent rights, we may initiate patent litigation against third parties, and we may be similarly sued by others. We may also become subject to interference proceedings conducted in the patent and trademark offices of various countries to determine the priority of inventions. The defense and prosecution, if necessary, of intellectual property suits, interference proceedings and related legal and administrative proceedings is costly and diverts our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. We may not prevail in any of these suits. An adverse determination of any litigation or defense proceedings could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, during the course of this kind of litigation, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments in the litigation. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

In September 2019, Luxendo GmbH (“Luxendo”), a subsidiary of Bruker Corporation, was sued in Germany by Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG (“Zeiss”), for infringement of a registered German utility model. After the utility model was canceled by the German Patent and Trademark Office in 2021, Zeiss withdrew its infringement action at the end of 2022 and the proceedings were terminated. However, a parallel European patent application, a family member of the utility model, is still pending in the European Patent Office (“EPO”). The Company is closely monitoring progress in the granting procedure and does not believe that a grant is imminent. The Company is presently unable to predict the EPO's final decision on the patent application.

Risks Related to Legal, Regulatory and Compliance

Our manufacture and sale of products could lead to product liability claims for which we could have substantial liability.

The manufacture and sale of our products expose us to product liability claims if any of our products cause injury or are found otherwise unsuitable or defective as a consequence of product design, manufacturing, marketing, sale or customer use. In particular, if one of our CBRNE detection products malfunctions, this could lead to civilian or military casualties in a time of unrest, exposing us to increased potential for high-profile liability. If our CBRNE detection products malfunction by generating a false-positive to a potential threat, we could be exposed to liabilities associated with actions taken that otherwise would not have been required. Additionally, the nuclear magnetic resonance, research magnetic resonance imaging, Fourier transform mass spectrometry and certain electron paramagnetic resonance magnets of BSI BioSpin utilize high magnet fields and cryogenics to operate at approximately 4 Kelvin, the temperature of liquid helium. There is an inherent risk of potential product liability due to the existence of these high magnetic fields, associated stray fields outside the magnet, and the handling of the cryogens associated with superconducting magnets. In addition, our MALDI Biotyper product has an IVD-CE mark and U.S. FDA approval and is used for the identification of microorganisms. Misidentification or a false-negative of certain viruses, bacteria, yeasts or fungi could lead to inappropriate treatment for patients and could expose us to product liability claims.

A successful product liability claim brought against us in excess of, or outside the coverage of, our insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may not be able to maintain product liability insurance on acceptable terms, if at all, and insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities.

We are subject to environmental laws and regulations, which may impose significant compliance or other costs on us.

Our manufacturing, product development and research and development operations and processes involve the controlled use of certain hazardous materials. In addition, we own and/or lease a number of facilities, some of which have been in operation for many decades, where we or others may have used substances or generated and disposed of wastes which are considered hazardous or may be considered hazardous in the future. We also have acquired various companies which historically may have used certain hazardous materials, and which may have owned and/or leased facilities at which hazardous materials have been used. For all of these reasons, we are subject to federal, state, foreign, and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, transportation, handling, treatment, remediation, and disposal of hazardous materials and certain waste products. We have potential liability under these laws and regulations with respect to the remediation of past contamination in certain of the facilities we now own or lease. Additionally, in the future our facilities and the disposal sites owned by others to which we send or sent waste, may be identified as contaminated and require remediation. Accordingly, we may become subject to additional compliance costs or environmental liabilities which may be significant and could materially harm our results of operations or financial condition.

Specifically, we use controlled hazardous and radioactive materials in our business and generate wastes that are regulated as hazardous wastes under U.S. federal, and Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, Washington and Wisconsin state environmental and atomic energy regulatory laws and under equivalent provisions of law in those and other jurisdictions in which our research and manufacturing facilities are located. Our use of these substances and materials is subject to stringent, and periodically changing, regulation that can impose costly compliance obligations on us and has the potential to adversely affect our manufacturing activities. The risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. If an accident with these substances occurs, we could be held liable for any damages that result, in addition to incurring clean-up costs and liabilities, which can be substantial. Additionally, an accident could damage our research and manufacturing facilities resulting in delays and increased costs.

We are subject to existing and potential additional regulation and government inquiry, which can impose burdens on our operations and narrow the markets for our products.

We are subject, both directly and indirectly, to the adverse impact of existing and potential future government regulation of our operations and markets. For example, the export of our products is subject to U.S. and non-U.S. export control, sanctions, customs, import and anti-boycott laws and regulations, including, as applicable, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Export Administration Regulations and the sanctions laws, regulations and executive orders administered and enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and other laws and regulations adopted by the governments or agencies of other countries relating to the same subject matter as the U.S. laws and regulations described above.

The failure to satisfy export control criteria or obtain necessary clearances could delay or prevent shipment of products, which could adversely affect our revenues and profitability. Failure by the Company, our employees or others working on our behalf to comply with these laws and regulations could result in administrative, civil or criminal liabilities, including suspension, debarment from bidding for or performing government contracts, or suspension of our export privileges, which could have a material adverse effect on us. We frequently team with international subcontractors and suppliers who are also exposed to similar risks. In some cases, compliance with the laws and regulations of one country could violate the laws and regulations of another country. Violations of these laws and regulations could materially adversely affect our brand, international growth efforts and business.

In addition, as a result of our international operations, we are subject to compliance with various laws and regulations, including the FCPA and local anti-bribery laws in the jurisdictions in which we do business (including some higher risk countries according to the Transparency International Corruption Index), which generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries or agents from engaging in bribery or making improper payments to foreign officials or their agents. The FCPA also requires proper record keeping and characterization of such payments in our reports filed with the SEC. Despite maintaining policies and procedures that require our employees to comply with these laws and our standards of ethical conduct, we cannot ensure that these policies and procedures will always protect us from intentional, reckless or negligent acts committed by our employees or third-party agents.

Moreover, the life sciences industry, which is the market for our principal products, has historically been heavily regulated. Given the evolving nature of this industry, legislative bodies or regulatory authorities may adopt additional regulation that adversely affects our market opportunities. Our business is also directly affected by a wide variety of government regulations applicable to business enterprises generally and to companies operating in the life sciences industry in particular.

Our products are subject to the FDA’s requirements for electronic radiation emitting products, which include requirements related to record-keeping and reporting; labeling; notification; product repairs, replacements, and refunds; importation; and performance standards. In addition, our clinical products are subject to regulation as medical devices in the United States by the FDA and by similar regulatory bodies in other countries where such products are sold. These regulations govern a wide variety of product related activities, from quality management, design, development, and testing to labeling, manufacturing, complaint handling, reporting, promotion, sales and distribution. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements is subject to continual review and is monitored rigorously through periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, which may result in written inspectional observations. The FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities also monitor product promotion and marketing materials and activities. If we or any of our suppliers or distributors fail to comply with FDA or other applicable regulatory requirements, or are perceived to potentially have failed to comply, we may face, among other things, warning letters; adverse publicity affecting both us and our customers; investigations or notices of non-compliance, fines, injunctions, and civil or criminal penalties; import or export restrictions; partial suspensions or total shutdown of production facilities or the imposition of operating restrictions; increased difficulty in obtaining required FDA clearances or approvals or foreign equivalents; seizures or recalls of our products or those of our customers; or the inability to sell such products. Any such FDA or comparable foreign regulatory actions could disrupt our business and operations, lead to significant remedial costs and have a material adverse impact on our financial position and results of operations. In addition, negative publicity and product liability claims resulting from any adverse regulatory action could have a material, adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Further, the replacement of the European Union IVD Directive by the IVD Regulation (EU) 2017/746 in May 2022 has resulted in a stricter regime on manufacturers of IVDs and under transitional arrangements our products currently approved under the Directive must be recertified under the Regulation by May 2025.

We have been, are, and expect to be in the future, subject to inquiries from the government agencies that enforce these regulations, including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. FDA, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, the SEC, the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Defense, among others, as well as from state or foreign governments and their departments and agencies. As a result, from time to time, the attention of our management and other resources may be diverted to attend to these inquiries. In addition, failure to comply with these regulations or obtain or maintain necessary permits and licenses could result in a variety of fines or other censures or an interruption in our business operations which may have a negative impact on our ability to generate revenues and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls may cause a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements or cause us to delay filing our periodic reports with the SEC and adversely affect our stock price.

The SEC, as directed by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, adopted rules requiring public companies to include a report of management on internal control over financial reporting in their annual reports on Form 10-K that contain an assessment by management of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Although we test our internal control over financial reporting in order to ensure compliance with the Section 404 requirements, our failure to maintain adequate internal controls over financial reporting could result in an adverse reaction in the financial marketplace due to a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements or a delay in our ability to timely file our periodic reports with the SEC, which ultimately could negatively impact our stock price.

Decentralization necessarily places significant control and decision-making powers in the hands of local management, which presents certain risks, including the risk that we may be slower to detect or react to compliance-related matters and that “company-wide” business initiatives may be more challenging or costly to implement, and the risk of noncompliance or failures higher than they may be in a more centralized operating environment. In addition, key business group resources and our corporate functions, which are leanly staffed but responsible for supporting our decentralized operations, may also not be able to detect or resolve financial, operational, and compliance matters on a timely basis. Our failure to adapt our financial, operational and compliance controls and systems to effectively manage our decentralized business and comply with our obligations as a public company could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

General Risks Factors

If we are not able to successfully integrate the businesses we acquire through mergers, acquisitions or strategic alliances, we may not be able to realize all of the cost savings and other benefits that we expect to result from the transactions and our financial results may be different than expected.

Our strategy includes expanding our technology base and product offerings through selected mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances. For example, from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, we acquired 21 businesses to expand our technologies and product offerings.

Successful integration of the businesses we acquire involves a number of risks, including, among others, risks related to:

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coordinating or consolidating geographically separate organizations and integrating personnel with different business backgrounds and corporate cultures;

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integrating previously autonomous departments in sales and marketing, distribution, accounting and administrative functions;

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integrating financial information and management systems;

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the pace of our acquisition activity and the related diversion of already limited resources and management time;

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disruption of our ongoing business;

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potential impairment of relationships with customers as a result of changes in management or otherwise arising out of such transactions; and

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retention of key employees of the acquired businesses within the first one to two years after the acquisition, including the risk that they may compete with us subsequently.

We may have difficulty developing, manufacturing and marketing the products of a newly acquired company or business in a way that enhances the performance of our combined businesses or product lines. As a result, we may not realize the value from expected synergies. Acquisitions have resulted, and may in the future result, in unexpected significant costs and expenses, including disputes over contingent consideration and complicated accounting for complex transaction structures. In the future, we may be required to record charges to earnings during the period if we determine there is an impairment of goodwill or intangible assets, up to the full amount of the remaining carrying value of the assets.

We generally assume the liabilities of businesses we acquire, which could include liability for an acquired business’ violation of law that occurred before we acquired it. We frequently acquire smaller, privately held companies that may not have the same culture of compliance or the same level of internal control of a larger, publicly traded company. Any failure to implement adequate training, controls, and monitoring of any acquired company could cause us to be liable for post-acquisition legal or accounting violations.

Other companies may have difficulty acquiring us, even if doing so would benefit our shareholders, due to provisions under our corporate charter and bylaws, as well as Delaware law.

Provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation, and our amended and restated bylaws, as well as Delaware law could make it more difficult for other companies to acquire us, even if doing so would benefit our shareholders. Our restated certificate of incorporation, and amended and restated bylaws contain the following provisions, among others, which may inhibit an acquisition of our company by a third party:

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a staggered Board of Directors, where shareholders elect only a minority of the board each year;

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advance notification procedures for matters to be brought before shareholder meetings;

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a limitation on who may call shareholder meetings; and

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the ability of our Board of Directors to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock without a shareholder vote.

ITEM 1B UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

ITEM 1C CYBERSECURITY

The Board’s Audit Committee oversees risks relating to cybersecurity threats and the steps management takes to monitor and control such exposures. The Company has instituted an Information Security Incident Response Plan (“IRP”) which provides a framework to assist the Company in responding to actual or potential cybersecurity incidents. Our IRP includes detailed response procedures to be followed in the event of a cybersecurity incident, which outline steps to be executed from detection to assessment to notification and recovery, including internal notifications to the Audit Committee as appropriate. These incidents may consist of any actual, threatened, suspected, or reported event or occurrence that may affect the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of Company systems or data, or of any such event affecting a third party that may affect Company systems or data. The objective of the IRP is to facilitate a timely and coordinated enterprise-level response to such incidents to mitigate impact on the Company and its employees, stockholders, customers, business partners, and other stakeholders. The Audit Committee receives regular reporting from senior officers (such as the Chief Information Security Officer and the Director of Risk Management & Insurance) on operational risk and the steps management has taken to monitor and control these risks. Such reporting includes updates on the Company’s IRP, the external threat environment, and the Company’s programs to address and mitigate the risks associated with the cybersecurity threat environment. The IRP and internal controls around cybersecurity are periodically evaluated by external experts and the results of those reviews are reported to the Audit Committee.

The Company has established a corporate-level global Information Security Incident Response Team (“ISIRT”), which provides a centralized, coordinated response to, and management of, cybersecurity incidents that may present significant risk to the Company’s operations, valuation, brand or reputation, employees, and customer or business relationships. The Company’s cybersecurity response team is comprised of multiple subject-matter experts, including information technology, cybersecurity and risk management members with a combined experience of well over 60 years. Core members of the ISIRT consist of the Vice President, Financial Operations and Project Management (“Financial Ops”); Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary (“General Counsel”); Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) who reports to the Chief Information Officer (“CIO”); Chief Privacy Officer (“CPO”); Vice President, Corporate Treasurer (“Treasury”); Director, Risk Management & Insurance (“Risk Management”); and Cyber Security Manager (“Information Security”). If a cybersecurity incident warrants activation of the ISIRT, the Company’s Financial Ops and the General Counsel will notify, as appropriate, the Company’s executive leadership and the Audit Committee. We also engage specialized third-party consultants to proactively support our cybersecurity efforts, which include but are not limited to, application and network security, information risk management, as well as business continuity and disaster recovery.

Cybersecurity incidents may occur at, or be reported to, any of the Company’s facilities worldwide. The Company has an IT Service Desk which acts as the single point of contact for cybersecurity incident reporting. Employees can notify the IT Service Desk of any event that they observe or is reported to them that may constitute a cybersecurity incident. Once notified, the IT Service Desk team conducts an initial classification and escalates, when needed, to the CISO and other members of ISIRT as per the Company’s IRP. Financial Ops, in consultation with the General Counsel, CPO and CISO, decide whether to activate the ISIRT in connection with any escalated incident. When activated, the ISIRT coordinates and directs all aspects of the response, including, as applicable, investigation, containment, business continuity and recovery, remediation, notifications, communications, and post-incident activities with executive leadership, including the CIO, and the Audit Committee and/or Board of Directors, as appropriate in the circumstances. As of December 31, 2023, no identified risk has required activation of the ISIRT.

In addition, our third-party service providers play a role in our risk management and strategy as well as with the investigation of cybersecurity incidents. Based upon the assessment of the type of incident and risk presented, the ISIRT engages outside counsel and/or external resources, such as forensic consultants, to conduct or assist with cybersecurity investigations in order to provide advice to the Company. The vendors we engage with are globally recognized companies with expertise in cybersecurity. We conduct due diligence before onboarding new vendors and maintain ongoing evaluations to ensure compliance with our security standards.

For a discussion of information technology rights that may materially impact us, see Item 1A “Risk Factors—We rely on information technology to support our operations and reporting environments. A security failure of that technology, including with respect to cybersecurity, could impact our ability to operate our businesses effectively, adversely affect our financial results, damage our reputation and expose us to potential liability or litigation.”

ITEM 2 PROPERTIES

We believe that our existing principal facilities are well maintained and in good operating condition and that they are adequate for our foreseeable business needs.

In addition to the principal facilities noted below, we lease additional facilities for sales, applications and service support in various countries throughout the world including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. If we should require additional or alternative facilities, we believe that such facilities can be obtained on short notice at competitive rates.

The location and general character of our principal properties are as follows:

Location Principal Use ApproximateSquare Feet Relationship

Principal Facilities Used in Current Operations for BSI BioSpin:

Principal Facilities Used in Current Operations for BSI CALID:

Principal Facilities Used in Current Operations for BSI Nano:

Principal Facilities Used in Current Operations for BEST:

Shared Principal Facilities:

ITEM 3 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are involved in lawsuits, claims, and proceedings, including, but not limited to, patent and commercial matters, which arise in the ordinary course of business. There are no such matters pending that we currently believe are reasonably likely to have a material impact on our business or to our consolidated financial statements.

Details on recent legal matters can be found in Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition, we are subject to regulation by national, state and local government agencies in the United States and other countries in which we operate. From time to time, we are the subject of governmental investigations often involving regulatory, marketing and other business practices. These governmental investigations may result in the commencement of civil and criminal proceedings, fines, penalties and administrative remedies which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and/or liquidity.

ITEM 4 MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5 MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Prices

Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BRKR.”

As of February 6, 2024, there were approximately 67 holders of record of our common stock. This number does not include individual beneficial owners of shares held in nominee name or within clearinghouse positions of brokerage firms and banks.

Dividends

In February 2016, we announced the establishment of a dividend policy and the declaration by our Board of Directors of an initial quarterly cash dividend in the amount of $0.04 per share of our issued and outstanding common stock. Beginning in 2022, we increased the quarterly cash dividend to our shareholders in the amount of $0.05 per share of our issued and outstanding common stock and in February 2024 announced that our Board had approved a quarterly dividend for the first quarter of 2024 of $0.05 per share, payable in March. Future dividend payments, if any, are subject to approval of our Board of Directors.

Stock Price Performance Graph

The graph below compares Bruker Corporation’s annual percentage change in cumulative total return on common shares over the past five years with the cumulative total return of companies comprising the Nasdaq US Benchmark TR Index and the SIC Code 3826 Laboratory Analytical Instruments Index. This presentation assumes that $100 was invested in shares of the relevant issuers on December 31, 2018, and that dividends received were immediately invested in additional shares. The graph plots the value of the initial $100 investment at one-year intervals for the fiscal years shown.

The data for this performance graph was compiled by Zack’s Investment Research, Inc. and is used with its permission.

Issuer Purchases of Securities

The following table provides information about purchases made by or on behalf of the Company or any “affiliated purchaser,” as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Exchange Act, during the quarter ended December 31, 2023, of shares of our common stock.

(1)

The Company purchased shares of common stock in accordance with the 2023 share repurchase program (the “2023 Repurchase Program”). The shares were purchased on the open market at prevailing prices. Under the 2023 Repurchase Program, the Company may repurchase shares pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 and/or Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act.

(2)

The 2023 Repurchase Program authorizes the purchases of the Company's common stock of up to $500.0 million from time to time over a two-year period, in amounts, at prices, and at such times as management deems appropriate, subject to market conditions, legal requirements and other considerations.

In May 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program (the “2021 Repurchase Program”) authorizing the purchase of the Company’s common stock of up to $500.0 million, in amounts, at prices, and at such times as management deems appropriate, subject to market conditions, legal requirements and other considerations. We purchased a total of 4,215,094 shares at an aggregate cost of $264.7 million under the 2021 Repurchase Program during the year ended December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we purchased a total of 315,318 shares at an aggregate cost of $22.2 million under the 2021 Repurchase Program. Authorization for the remaining $94.4 million on the 2021 Repurchase Program expired in May 2023.

In May 2023, our Board of Directors approved the “2023 Repurchase Program” authorizing the purchase of up to $500.0 million of our common stock over a two-year period, in amounts, at prices, and at such times as we deem appropriate, subject to market conditions, legal requirements and other consideration. We purchased a total of 2,097,119 shares of common stock with an aggregate cost of approximately $130.1 million under the 2023 Repurchase Program during the year ended December 31, 2023. The Company currently intends to fund future share repurchases from cash on hand, future cash flows from operations and available borrowings under our revolving credit facility.

ITEM 6 RESERVED

ITEM 7 MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes to those statements, appearing elsewhere in this report. This report contains forward-looking statements reflecting our current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. The cautionary statements made in this report should be read as applying to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this report. Our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in Item 1A, Risk Factors and elsewhere in this report.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, or MD&A, describes the principal factors affecting the results of our operations, financial condition and changes in financial condition, as well as our critical accounting policies and estimates. Our MD&A is organized as follows:

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Non-GAAP Measures. This section provides appropriate disclosures regarding forward looking statements and our use of Non-GAAP financial measures.

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Overview. This section provides a brief discussion of our reportable segments’ results of operations, significant recent developments in our businesses, and challenges and risks that may impact our businesses in the future.

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Results of Operations. This section provides our analysis of the significant line items on our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources. This section provides an analysis of our liquidity and cash flow and a discussion of our outstanding debt and commitments.

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates. This section discusses the accounting estimates that are considered important to our financial condition and results of operations and require us to exercise subjective or complex judgments in their application. All of our significant accounting policies are summarized in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements. This section provides a summary of recent accounting pronouncements and discusses their potential impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Non-GAAP Measures

Although our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”), we believe describing revenue and expenses, excluding the effects of foreign currency, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as certain other charges, net, provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance. We rely internally on certain measures that are not calculated according to GAAP. These measures are organic revenue, free cash flow, non-GAAP gross profit margin and non-GAAP operating margin. Our management believes that these financial measures provide relevant and useful information that is widely used by equity analysts, investors and competitors in our industry, as well as by our management, in assessing both consolidated and business unit performance.

We define the term organic revenue as GAAP revenue excluding the effect of foreign currency translation changes and the effect of acquisitions and divestitures. We define the term non-GAAP gross profit margin as GAAP gross profit margin with certain non-GAAP measures excluded and non-GAAP operating margin as GAAP operating margin with certain non-GAAP measures excluded. These non-GAAP measures exclude costs related to restructuring actions, acquisition and related integration expenses, amortization of acquired intangible assets, costs associated with our global information technology transition initiatives, and other non-operational costs and we believe these are useful measures to evaluate our continuing business.

We define free cash flow as GAAP net cash provided by operating activities less additions to property, plant, and equipment. We believe free cash flow is a useful measure to evaluate our business as it indicates the amount of cash generated after additions to property, plant, and equipment which is available for, among other things, investments in our business, acquisitions, share repurchases, dividends and repayment of debt.

We regularly use these non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage, and evaluate our business results and make operating decisions. We also measure our employees and compensate them, in part, based on such non-GAAP measures and use this information for our planning and forecasting activities. These measures may also be useful to investors in evaluating the underlying operating performance of our business. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies, and therefore, may not be comparable among companies.

OVERVIEW

We are a developer, manufacturer and distributor of high-performance scientific instruments and analytical and diagnostic solutions that enable our customers to explore life and materials at microscopic, molecular and cellular levels. Our corporate headquarters are located in Billerica, Massachusetts. We maintain major technical and manufacturing centers in Europe, Asia and North America and we have commercial offices located throughout the world. Bruker is organized into four reportable segments: the BSI BioSpin Segment, the BSI CALID Segment, the BSI Nano Segment and the Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies (BEST) Segment.

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023, increased by $433.8 million, or 17.1%, to $2,964.5 million, compared to $2,530.7 million for the comparable period in 2022. Included in revenue was an increase of approximately $11.2 million from favorable foreign exchange rate movements, and an increase of $56.2 million from acquisitions. Excluding the effects of foreign exchange rate movements and our recent acquisitions, our organic revenue, a non-GAAP measure, increased $366.4 million, or 14.5%. Revenue increases were driven by strong demand for our differentiated high-value scientific instruments and life science solutions in addition to pricing benefits compared to the same period in 2022.

Our gross profit margin decreased to 51.0% for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to 51.6% in the same period in 2022, primarily as result of the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rate movements offset by modest improvement from mix, pricing, and acquisitions compared to 2022.

The income tax provision for the years ended December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022 was $117.7 million and $116.4 million, respectively, representing effective tax rates of 21.6% and 28.1%, respectively. The decrease in our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to 2022, was primarily due to the non-taxable nature of the gain on bargain purchase from the acquisition of PhenomeX.

Diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2023, was $2.90, an increase of $0.91, compared to $1.99 per share in the same period in 2022. The increase in diluted earnings per share was primarily driven by higher net income including the bargain purchase gain associated with the acquisition of PhenomeX, and reduced diluted outstanding shares resulting from our share repurchase activity during the year.

The following table presents a reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities, which is the most directly comparable GAAP operating financial measure, to free cash flow as used by management (in millions):

Year EndedDecember 31,

Net cash provided by operating activities $ 350.1 $ 274.4

Less: purchases of property, plant and equipment (106.9 ) (129.2 )

For the year ended December 31, 2023, our free cash flow was $98.0 million higher than the same period in 2022, primarily due to improved working capital performance and lower capital expenditures.

The following table presents a reconciliation from gross profit and gross profit margin, which are the most directly comparable GAAP operating performance measures, to non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP gross profit margin as used by management (dollars in millions):

Year Ended December 31,

Non-GAAP adjustments:

Restructuring costs 3.5 0.1 % 0.9 —

Acquisition-related costs 2.5 0.1 % 0.4 —

Purchased intangible amortization 24.3 0.9 % 18.3 0.8 %

Our non-GAAP gross profit margin was 52.2% and 52.6% in the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively remaining fairly consistent year over year.

The following table presents a reconciliation from operating income and operating margin, which are the most directly comparable GAAP operating performance measures, to non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin as used by management (in millions):

Year Ended December 31,

Non-GAAP adjustments:

Purchased intangible amortization 47.1 1.6 % 37.1 1.5 %

Our non-GAAP operating margin was 18.4% and 20.0% for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively. The decrease in our non-GAAP operating margins in 2023 was primarily due to acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange rate movements.

We can experience quarter-to-quarter fluctuations in our operating results as a result of various factors, some of which are outside our control, such as:

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general economic conditions, including inflation, uncertainties caused by recent banking industry volatility, the threat of recession, financial liquidity, and currency volatility or devaluation, supply chain or manufacturing capabilities;

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geopolitical tensions, including those on our customers, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine conflict, the conflict in Israel, Palestine and surrounding areas, the possible expansion of such conflicts and potential geopolitical consequences, the ongoing tensions between the United States and China, tariff and trade policy changes, and increasing potential of conflict involving countries in Asia that are critical to our supply chain operations;

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potential energy shortages in Europe where we have significant operations and overall higher energy and transportation costs;

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the impacts of climate change and certain weather-related disruptions;

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the timing of governmental stimulus programs and academic research budgets;

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the time it takes between the date customer orders and deposits are received, systems are shipped and accepted by our customers and full payment is received;

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foreign currency exchange rates;

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the worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips, components and raw materials, such as copper;

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changes in raw material, component and logistics costs;

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the time it takes for us to receive critical materials to manufacture our products;

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the time it takes to satisfy local customs requirements and other export/import requirements;

•

the time it takes for customers to construct or prepare their facilities for our products;

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the time required to obtain governmental licenses;

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our ability to identify suitable acquisition targets and successfully integrate and manage acquired business; and

•

costs related to acquisitions of technology or businesses.

Several of these factors have in the past affected and may continue to affect the amount and timing of revenue recognized on sales of our products and receipt of related payments and will likely continue to do so in the future. Accordingly, our operating results in any particular quarter may not necessarily be an indication of any future quarter’s operating performance.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

A discussion regarding our results of operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 compared to 2021 can be found under Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023, which is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and our Investor Relations website at https://.ir.bruker.com under the “Financial Info” section.

Year Ended December 31, 2023, Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022

Consolidated Results

The following table presents our results for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 (dollars in millions):

Year Ended December 31,

Operating expenses:

Interest and other income (expense), net (36.8 ) (18.8 ) (18.0 ) 95.7 %

Equity in income of unconsolidated investees, net of tax 2.0 1.0 1.0 100.0 %

Net income attributable to Bruker Corporation $ 427.2 $ 296.6 $ 130.6 44.0 %

Revenue

The following table presents revenue, change in revenue, and revenue growth by reportable segment for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 (dollars in millions):

(a)

Represents product and service revenue between reportable segments.

Revenue increases were driven by strong demand for our differentiated instruments and solutions as well as pricing actions taken primarily to address inflation cost pressures. The BSI BioSpin Segment revenue increase was related primarily to the strong demand for our instruments across biopharma, academic government, industrial research and applied markets, our new integrated data solutions division and especially our Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and related services. We had revenue from 4 gigahertz class NMR systems each in fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022. The BSI CALID Segment revenue increase reflected strong demand for our differentiated instruments, primarily, in our life science mass spectrometry proteomics solutions, and our optics spectroscopy and microscopy instruments. Our growth in life science mass spectrometry was driven by the timsTOF platform and aftermarket business, as well as strong growth in applied mass spectrometry and our optics infrared, near infrared and Raman business. Microbiology and infectious disease revenue was up slightly as solid demand for MALDI Biotyper consumables was offset by a final drop of our modest COVID-19 molecular diagnostics revenue. The BSI NANO Segment revenue increase was driven by strong demand in its academic, government, industrial and semiconductor metrology markets. Revenue growth was primarily driven by our advanced X-ray solutions and nano surfaces, core tools and fluorescence microscopy. The BEST revenue increase was driven by strong superconductor demand from our magnetic resonance imaging original equipment manufacturer customers as well as by growth in big science, fusion research, and key new extreme ultraviolet EUV technologies for semiconductor lithography tools by large OEM customers, all in support of the strong artificial intelligence demand.

Geographically for the year ended December 31, 2023, our North America revenue grew 11.4% Asia Pacific increased by 22.9%, and European revenue increased by 16.9%, in each case, as compared to the same period in 2022.

Gross Profit

The increase in gross profit was a result of pricing and volume leverage, partially offset by net unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rate movements compared to 2022.

Selling, General and Administrative

Our selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2023, increased to 24.6% of total revenue from 24.0% of total revenue for the comparable period in 2022. The year over year increase as a percentage of revenue was a result of inflation and increased planned spending in sales and marketing capabilities compared to 2022. Increased spending is related to additional headcount and personnel expenses as well as increased consulting and professional fees related to acquisitions, tax, audit and audit-related fees.

Research and Development

Our research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2023, increased to 9.9% of total revenue from 9.3% of total revenue for the comparable period in 2022. The slight increase as a percentage of revenue is a result of our increased investment in research and development capabilities, especially in our key Project Accelerate 2.0 initiatives. Investments are primarily related to additional headcount and personnel expenses as well as increased consulting and professional fees related to research and development activities.

Other Charges, Net

Other charges, net for the year ended December 31, 2023, consisted of $16.8 million of acquisition-related charges primarily completed in 2023, $18.8 million of restructuring costs related to closing facilities and implementing outsourcing and other restructuring initiatives mainly related to the PhenomeX acquisition as detailed in Note 21 Other Charges, net, $5.0 million of costs associated with our global IT transformation activities, $0.6 million related to professional fees and $5.7 million related to long-lived asset impairments. Acquisition-related charges relate primarily to the integration cost of newly acquired entities and the cost of post-combination employment services in the period acquired. The IT transformation initiative is a multi-year project aimed at updating and integrating our global enterprise resource planning and human resource information systems.

Other charges, net for the year ended December 31, 2022 consisted primarily of $19.3 million of acquisition-related charges related to transactions completed in 2021 and 2020, $3.9 million of restructuring costs related to closing facilities and implementing outsourcing and other restructuring initiatives, $3.0 million of costs associated with our global IT transformation activities, $2.4 million related to professional fees and $0.3 million related to long-lived asset impairments.

Operating Income

The following table presents operating income and operating margins on revenue by reportable segment for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (dollars in millions):

Corporate, eliminations and other (a) $ (109.7 ) (74.7 )

(a)

Represents corporate costs and eliminations not allocated to the reportable segments.

The increase in operating income was due to higher gross profit resulting from, volume leverage, and price realization offset by planned sales and marketing investments, supply chain and logistics challenges, inflationary margin challenges in 2023, as compared to 2022, and investments in research and development capabilities.

Bargain purchase gain

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company recorded a gain of $144.1 million, or $0.99 per share, in connection with the PhenomeX acquisition, which closed on October 2, 2023. This bargain purchase gain reflects the excess of identifiable net assets acquired, including deferred tax assets related to acquired tax NOLs, over the purchase consideration paid.

Interest and Other Income (Expense), Net

The increase in interest and other income (expense), net in the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the same period in 2022 was primarily due to impairment charges recognized of $18.2 million on certain minority investments and higher foreign currency exchange losses of $13.3 million driven by weakening of the U.S. dollar against other currencies.

Income Tax Provision

The effective tax rates for years ended 2023 and 2022 were 21.6% and 28.1%, respectively. The decrease in our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to 2022, was primarily due to the non-taxable nature of the bargain purchase gain from the acquisition of PhenomeX.

Equity in Income of Unconsolidated Investees, net of tax

Equity in income of unconsolidated investees, net of tax represents the Company’s proportionate share of the earnings or losses as reported by equity-method investees.

Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests and Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests

The net income attributable to noncontrolling interests represented the minority shareholders’ proportionate share of the net income recorded by our majority-owned subsidiaries.

Net Income Attributable to Bruker Corporation

The increase in net income and earnings per diluted share was primarily driven by the increase in revenue, gross profit and operating profit as a result of strengthened demand and recovery in our business and end markets.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

We anticipate that our existing cash and credit facilities as of December 31, 2023, together with proceeds from notes offerings to be completed pursuant to note purchase agreements entered into in February 2024 and increased borrowing capacity under the amended and restated credit agreement entered into in January 2024, will be sufficient to support our operating and investing needs for at least the next twelve months. Our future cash requirements could be affected by acquisitions that we may complete, purchases of our common stock or the payment of dividends in the future. Historically, we have financed our growth and liquidity needs through cash flow generation from operations and debt financing. In the future, there are no assurances that we will continue to generate cash flow from operations or that additional financing alternatives will be available to us, if required, or if available, will be obtained on terms favorable to us.

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at December 31, 2023, and 2022 totaled $488.3 million and $645.5 million, respectively, of which $398.4 million and $593.8 million, respectively, related to cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments is held outside of the United States in our foreign subsidiaries, most significantly in the Netherlands, Switzerland, China and Hong Kong.

The following table presents our cash flows from operating activities, investing activities and financing activities for the periods presented (in millions):

Year Ended December 31,

Net cash provided by operating activities $ 350.1 $ 274.4

Net cash used in investing activities (326.0 ) (251.6 )

Net cash provided by financing activities (193.4 ) (415.3 )

Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ (157.1 ) $ (423.0 )

Cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2023, resulted from consolidated net income adjusted for non-cash items of $437.9 million, including the non-cash bargain purchase gain from the acquisition of PhenomeX, partially offset by a change in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions and divestitures of $87.8 million. During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by operating activities resulted from consolidated net income adjusted for non-cash items of $418.5 million, partially offset by a change in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions and divestitures of $144.1 million. The increase in net income adjusted for non-cash items was mainly due to higher revenue, gross profit, and operating income. The increase in operating cash flows was due to changes in operating assets and liabilities, and was impacted by improvements in receivable collections, timing of tax payments and accounts payable offset by an increase in inventory purchases and prepayments to meet increased order demand.

Cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023, resulted primarily from the acquisitions and advances of $226.6 million, purchases of property, plant and equipment of $106.9 million, and minority investments of $24.8 million, partially offset by net proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment of $11.1 million. Cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022, was primarily from the acquisitions of $182.3 million, purchases of property, plant and equipment of $129.2 million, and minority investments of $60.2 million, partially offset by maturity of short-term investments of $100.0 million and $13.9 million of net proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment.

We currently expect capital expenditures in 2024 to be approximately $125.0 million.

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023, was primarily attributable to cash payments made for shares of common stock under our repurchase program of $152.3 million, and $29.4 million for the payment of dividends. Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022, was primarily attributable to cash payments made for shares of common stock under our repurchase program of $263.1 million, repayment of our 2012 Note Purchase Agreement of $105.0 million and $29.8 million for the payment of dividends.

Share Repurchase Program

In May 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program (the “2021 Repurchase Program”) authorizing the purchase of up to $500.0 million of the Company’s common stock over a two-year period, in amounts, at prices, and at such times as management deems appropriate, subject to market conditions, legal requirements and other considerations. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company purchased a total of 315,318 shares at an aggregate cost of $22.2 million under the 2021 Repurchase Program. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company purchased a total of 4,215,094 shares at an aggregate cost of $264.7 million under the 2021 Repurchase Program. Authorization for the remaining $94.4 million on the 2021 Repurchase Program expired in May 2023.

In May 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program (the “2023 Repurchase Program”) authorizing the purchase of up to $500.0 million of the Company’s common stock over a two-year period, in amounts, at prices, and at such times as management deems appropriate, subject to market conditions, legal requirements and other considerations. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company purchased a total of 2,097,119 shares at an aggregate cost of $130.1 million under the 2023 Repurchase Program. At December 31, 2023, $369.9 million remains available for future purchase under the 2023 Repurchase Program. We intend to fund any additional purchases from cash on hand, future cash flows from operations and available borrowings under the revolving credit facility.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) was signed into law in the United States. The IRA introduced new tax provisions, including a 1.0% excise tax on stock repurchases. The Company expects additional guidance and regulations to be issued in future periods and will continue to assess its potential impact on its business as further information becomes available. The estimated excise tax on our stock repurchases was not material and was recorded in other current liabilities and additional paid in capital for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Shelf Registration

On June 2, 2023, the Company filed a registration statement on Form S-3ASR with the SEC (“2023 Shelf Registration”) for the issuance of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, units, subscription rights and purchase contracts, which became effective immediately upon filing. At the time any of the securities covered by the 2023 Shelf Registration Statement are offered for sale, a prospectus supplement will be prepared and filed with the SEC containing specific information about the terms of any such offering.

Income Taxes

At December 31, 2023 and in accordance with the tax reform legislation signed by the President of the United States on December 22, 2017, or the 2017 Tax Act, we recorded state and foreign withholding taxes, as well as subsequent foreign currency translations on these withholding taxes as they are an obligation of the parent company, on the cash and liquid assets portion of the unremitted earnings and profits (E&P) of foreign subsidiaries expected to be repatriated from our foreign subsidiaries to the United States. We continue to be indefinitely reinvested in the amount of $1.4 billion of non-cash E&P that is subject to the 2017 Tax Act deemed repatriation. If this E&P is ultimately distributed to the United States in the form of dividends or otherwise, we would likely be subject to additional withholding tax. We will continue to evaluate our assertions on the cumulative historical outside basis differences in our foreign subsidiaries as of December 31, 2023. The amount of unrecognized deferred withholding taxes on the undistributed E&P was $95.6 million at December 31, 2023.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company has approximately $588.9 million of U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards, of which $36.4 million begin to expire at various dates beginning in 2031 and the remainder $552.5 million will be carried forward indefinitely. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted on December 22, 2017, limits a taxpayer’s ability to utilize NOL deduction in a year to 80% taxable income for federal NOL arising in tax years beginning after 2017. The Company has approximately $676.6 million of state net operating loss carryforwards available to reduce state taxable income that are expected to expire at various times beginning in 2024. The Company also has approximately $97.9 million of German Trade Tax and Corporate Income Tax net operating losses that are carried forward indefinitely. Additionally, the Company has $28.7 million of other foreign net operating losses that are expected to expire at various times in the future. The Company has U.S. federal foreign tax credit carried forwards in the amount of $3.3 million. The Company also has U.S. federal and state research and development tax credit of $1.2 million and $10.3 million respectively. Utilization of these credits and net operating losses may be subject to annual limitations due to the ownership percentage change limitations provided by the Code Section 382 and similar state provisions. In the event of a deemed change in control under Code Section 382, an annual limitation on the utilization of net operating losses and credits may result in the expiration of all or a portion of the net operating loss and credit carryforwards. The Company is in the process of finalizing the impact of Section 382 related to the PhenomeX acquisition but believes the provisions will limit the availability of losses to offset future income. Additionally, the Company has $91.4 million of gross interest expense carryforward as provided by Code Section 163(j) that can be carried forward indefinitely.

Uncertain tax contingencies are positions taken or expected to be taken on an income tax return that may result in additional payments to tax authorities. If a tax authority agrees with the tax position taken or expected to be taken or the applicable statute of limitations expires, then additional payments will not be necessary.

Credit Facilities and Note Purchase Agreements

On February 8, 2024, the Company entered into a note purchase agreement pursuant to which the Company will issue and sell (i) CHF 50 million aggregate principal amount of 2.60% Series A Senior Notes due April 15, 2036 and (ii) CHF 50 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.62% Series B Senior Notes due April 15, 2039 in an offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The issuance and sale of the notes is subject to satisfaction of a variety of customary closing conditions and is expected to occur on or about April 15, 2024.

On February 1, 2024, the Company entered into a note purchase agreement, pursuant to which the Company will issue and sell (i) CHF 50 million aggregate principal amount of 2.56% Series A Senior Notes due April 15, 2034, (ii) CHF 146 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.62% Series B Senior Notes due April 15, 2036 and (iii) CHF 135 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.71% Series C Senior Notes due April 15, 2039 in an offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The issuance and sale of the notes is subject to satisfaction of a variety of customary closing conditions and is expected to occur on or about April 15, 2024.

On January 18, 2024, the Company, together with certain of its subsidiaries, as borrowers and guarantors, entered into an amended and restated credit agreement with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., TD Bank, N.A., and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Co-Syndication Agents, BofA Securities, Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., TD Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, as Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Arrangers, Citizens Bank, N.A., Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd., and U.S. Bank, N.A., as Co-Documentation Agents, ING Bank B.V. and PNC Bank, N.A., as Managing Agents, Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent, Swing Line Lender and Issuing Bank, and the several banks or other financial institutions or entities from time to time party thereto as lenders. The amended and restated credit agreement amends and restates the credit agreement entered into by the Company and certain of its subsidiaries on December 11, 2019 with the other parties thereto.

The amended and restated credit agreement increases the aggregate principal amount from $600 million to $900 million and extends the maturity date to January 18, 2029, as may be further extended by the Company for the periods and on the terms set forth in the amended and restated credit agreement. In addition, the amended and restated credit agreement increases the uncommitted incremental facility whereby, under certain circumstances, the Company may, at its option, increase the amount of the revolving facility or incur term loans in an aggregate amount not to exceed $400 million.

In addition, we paid the remaining $100 million of our 4.46% Series 2012A Tranche D, private placement notes on January 18, 2024.

On January 12, 2024, the Company borrowed CHF 230 million under the Company's 2019, Revolving Credit Agreement.

As of December 31, 2023, we have several cross-currency and interest rate swap agreements with a notional value of $139.1 million of U.S. Dollar to Swiss Franc and a notional value of $239.1 million of U.S. Dollar to Euro to hedge the variability in the movement of foreign currency exchange rates on portions of our Euro and Swiss Franc denominated net asset investments. As a result of these agreements, we lowered our net interest expense by $18.3 million and $8.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively. We anticipate these swap agreements will lower net interest expense by approximately $12.7 million in 2024 and $8.8 million in 2025.

For a summary of the fair and carrying values of our outstanding debt as of December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, please read Note 12, Debt, to our consolidated financial statements included in our 2023 Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2023, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements.

As of December 31, 2023, wewere compliant with the financial covenants of these debt agreements.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.

We consider our accounting estimates to be critical to the consolidated financial statements if (i) the estimate requires significant judgment or is complex in nature and (ii) if different estimates and assumptions were used, the results could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. We evaluate our estimates and the application of our policies on an ongoing basis.

We base our estimates and judgments on our historical experience, current market and economic conditions, industry trends, and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period in which they become known.

We believe the following critical accounting policies and estimates to be both those most important to the portrayal of our financial position and results of operations and those that require the most estimation and subjective judgment.

Revenue recognition

We recognize revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606). The key elements of ASC 606 are: 1) identifying a contract with the customer; 2) identifying the performance obligations in the contract; 3) determining the transaction price; 4) allocating the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and 5) recognizing revenue when (or as) each performance obligation is satisfied.

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. Some of our contracts have multiple performance obligations, most commonly due to providing additional goods or services along with a system, such as installation, accessories, parts and services. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, we allocate the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation using the best estimate of the standalone selling price of each distinct good or service being provided to the customer. Our best evidence of standalone selling price is our normal selling pricing and discounting practices for the specific product or service when sold on a standalone basis. Alternatively, when not sold separately, we may determine standalone selling price using an expected cost plus a margin approach.

Our performance obligations are typically satisfied at a point in time, most commonly either on shipment, or customer acceptance. Certain performance obligations, such as maintenance contracts and extended warranty, are recognized over time based on the contractual obligation period. In addition, certain arrangements to provide more customized deliverables may be satisfied over time based on the extent of progress towards completion. For performance obligations recognized over time, revenue is measured by progress toward completion of the performance obligation that reflects the transfer of control. Typically, progress is measured using a cost-to-cost method based on cost incurred to date relative to total estimated costs upon completion as this best depicts the transfer of control to the customer. Application of the cost-to-cost method requires us to make reasonable estimates of the extent of progress toward completion and the total costs we expect to incur. Losses are recorded immediately when we estimate that contracts will ultimately result in a loss. Changes in the estimates could affect the timing of revenue recognition.

We include costs incurred in connection with shipping and handling of products within selling, general and administrative costs. Amounts billed to customers in connection with these costs are included in total revenues. When control of the goods transfers prior to the completion of our obligation to ship the products to our customers, we have elected the practical expedient to account for the shipping services as a fulfillment cost. We expense incremental costs of obtaining a contract as and when incurred if the expected amortization period is one year or less or the amount is immaterial. We exclude from the transaction price all taxes assessed by a governmental authority on revenue-producing transactions that are collected by us from a customer.

We recognize revenue from systems sales upon transfer of control in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive. Transfer of control generally occurs upon shipment, or for certain systems, based upon customer acceptance for a system once installed at a customer facility. For systems that include customer-specific acceptance criteria, we are required to assess when we can demonstrate the acceptance criteria has been met, which generally is upon successful factory acceptance testing or customer acceptance and evidence of installation. For systems that require installation and where system revenue is recognized upon shipment, the standalone selling price of installation is deferred until customer acceptance. Revenue from accessories and parts is generally recognized based on shipment. Service revenue is recognized as the services are performed or ratably over the contractual obligation and includes maintenance contracts, extended warranties, training, application support and on-demand services.

When products are sold through an independent distributor or a strategic distribution partner, we recognize the system sale upon transfer of control which is typically on shipment. When we are responsible for installation, the standalone selling price of installation is deferred until customer acceptance. Our distributors do not have price protection rights or rights of return; however, our products are typically warranted to be free from defect for a period of one year.

We require an advance deposit based on the terms and conditions of contracts with customers for many of our contracts. Typically, revenue is recognized within one year of receiving an advance deposit. We do not have any material payment terms that extend beyond one year. There is minimal variable consideration included in the transaction price of our contracts.

Other revenues are primarily comprised of development arrangements recognized on a cost-plus-fixed-fee basis and licensing arrangements recognized either when the licenses are provided or ratably over the contract term depending on the nature of the arrangement.

Income taxes

The provision for income taxes includes federal, state, local and foreign taxes. Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the year in which the temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. We evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets and establish a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.

The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. Based upon the level of historical taxable income and income tax liability and projections for future taxable income over the periods in which the deferred tax assets are utilizable, we believe it is more likely than not that we will realize the net benefits of the deferred tax assets of our wholly owned subsidiaries, net of the recorded valuation allowance. In the event that actual results differ from our estimates, or we adjust our estimates in future periods, we may need to adjust or establish a valuation allowance, which could materially impact our consolidated financial position and results of operations.

We record liabilities related to uncertain tax positions in accordance with the guidance that clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in our financial statements. This guidance prescribes a minimum recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. We include accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits and income tax liabilities, when applicable, in income tax expense.

Goodwill, other intangible assets and other long-lived assets

Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are not amortized, but are evaluated for impairment on an annual basis, or on an interim basis when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. In assessing the recoverability of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, we must make assumptions regarding the estimated future cash flows, including forecasted revenue growth and the discount rate to determine the fair value of these assets. If these estimates or their related assumptions change in the future, we may be required to record impairment charges against these assets in the reporting period in which the impairment is determined.

We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level, which is the operating segment or one level below an operating segment. We have the option of performing a qualitative assessment to determine whether further impairment testing is necessary before performing the quantitative assessment. If as a result of the qualitative assessment, it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, a quantitative impairment test will be required. Otherwise, no further testing will be required. If a quantitative impairment test is performed, we compare the fair values of the applicable reporting units with their aggregate carrying values, including goodwill. We determine the fair value of reporting units using a weighting of both the market and the income methodologies. Estimating the fair value of the reporting units requires significant judgment by management. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds the fair value of the reporting unit, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying value amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value up to the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit.

In process research and development, or IPR&D, acquired as part of business combinations under the acquisition method represents ongoing development work associated with enhancements to existing products, as well as the development of next generation products. IPR&D is initially capitalized at fair value as an intangible asset with an indefinite life and assessed for impairment on an annual basis, or when indicators of impairment are identified. When the IPR&D project is complete, it is reclassified as a finite-lived intangible asset and is amortized over its estimated useful life. If an IPR&D project is abandoned before completion or is otherwise determined to be impaired, the value of the asset or the amount of the impairment is charged to the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income in the period the project is abandoned or impaired.

Business Combinations

We account for business combinations under the acquisition method of accounting. Accordingly, at the date of each acquisition, we measure the fair value of all identifiable assets acquired (including intangible assets), liabilities assumed and any remaining noncontrolling interests and allocate the amounts paid to all items measured. The fair value of identifiable intangible assets acquired is based on valuations that use information and assumptions determined by management and which consider management’s best estimates of inputs and assumptions that a market participant would use. Any excess of fair value of acquired net assets, including identifiable intangible assets over the acquisition consideration, results in a bargain purchase gain.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

Information regarding recently issued accounting pronouncements may be found in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 7A QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

We are potentially exposed to market risks associated with changes in foreign currency translation rates, interest rates and commodity prices. We selectively use financial instruments to reduce these risks. All transactions related to risk management techniques are authorized and executed pursuant to our policies and procedures. Analytical techniques used to manage and monitor foreign currency translation and interest rate risk include market valuations and sensitivity analysis.

We have estimated our market risk exposure using sensitivity analysis. To test the sensitivity of our market risk exposure, we have estimated the changes in fair value of market risk sensitive instruments assuming a hypothetical 10 percent adverse change in market prices or rates. The results of the sensitivity analyses are summarized below.

Foreign Currency Risk

We generate a substantial portion of our revenues in international markets, principally Germany and other countries in the European Union, Switzerland and Japan, which exposes our operations to the risk of exchange rate fluctuations. The impact of currency exchange rate movement can be positive or negative in any period. Our costs related to sales in foreign currencies are largely denominated in the same respective currencies, reducing our transaction risk exposure. However, for foreign currency denominated sales in certain regions, such as Japan, where we do not incur significant costs denominated in Japanese Yen, we are more exposed to the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

For sales not denominated in U.S. Dollars, if there is an increase in the rate at which a foreign currency is exchanged for U.S. Dollars, it will require more of the foreign currency to equal a specified amount of U.S. Dollars than before the rate increase. In such cases, if we price our products in the foreign currency, we will receive less in U.S. Dollars than we would have received before the rate increase went into effect. If we price our products in U.S. Dollars and competitors price their products in local currency, an increase in the relative strength of the U.S. Dollar could result in our prices not being competitive in a market where business is transacted in the local currency. For example, if the U.S. Dollar strengthened against the Japanese Yen, our Japanese-based competitors would have a greater pricing advantage over us.

Our revenue by geography was as follows (dollars in millions):

Revenue Percentage ofRevenue Revenue Percentage ofRevenue

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates increased our revenue by approximately 0.4% in the year ended December 31, 2023, and decreased it by 2.2% in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Assets and liabilities of our foreign subsidiaries, where the functional currency is the local currency, are translated into U.S. Dollars using period-end exchange rates. Revenues and expenses of foreign subsidiaries are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during the year. Adjustments resulting from financial statement translations are included as a separate component of shareholders’ equity. We recorded a net gain of $15.1 million and a net loss of $22.0 million, in the years ended December 31, 2023, and December 31, 2022, respectively, from currency translation adjustments. A 10% depreciation in functional currencies, relative to the U.S. Dollar, at December 31, 2023, would have resulted in a reduction of shareholders’ equity of approximately $303.6 million. Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are reported in interest and other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. Our foreign currency transaction gain (loss), net were net losses of $13.3 million and $5.8 million for years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively.

The impact of currency exchange rate movement can be positive or negative in any period. We periodically enter into foreign currency contracts in order to minimize the volatility that fluctuations in currency translation have on our monetary transactions. Under these arrangements, we typically agree to purchase a fixed amount of a foreign currency in exchange for a fixed amount of U.S. Dollars or other currencies on specified dates with maturities of less than twelve months, with some agreements extending to longer periods. These transactions do not qualify for hedge accounting and, accordingly, the instrument is recorded at fair value with the corresponding gains and losses recorded in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income.

As of December 31, 2023, we have several cross-currency and interest rate swap agreements with a notional value of $139.1 million of U.S. Dollar to Swiss Franc and a notional value of $239.1 million of U.S. Dollar to Euro to hedge the variability in the movement of foreign currency exchange rates on portions of our Euro and Swiss Franc denominated net asset investments. Under the U.S. GAAP hedge accounting guidance, changes in fair value of the derivative that relates to changes in the foreign currency spot rate are recorded in the currency translation adjustment in comprehensive income (loss) and remain in accumulated comprehensive income (loss) in shareholders’ equity until the sale or substantial liquidation of the foreign operation. The difference between the interest rate received and paid under the interest rate cross-currency swap derivative agreement is recorded in interest income in the statement of income.

From time to time, we have entered into forward currency contracts designed to minimize the volatility that fluctuations in foreign currency have on our cash flows related to purchases and sales denominated in foreign currencies. Under these arrangements, we agree to purchase a fixed amount of a foreign currency in exchange for a fixed amount of U.S. Dollars or other currencies on specified dates typically with maturities of less than twelve months with some agreements extending to longer periods. These transactions are recorded at fair value with the corresponding gains and losses recorded in interest and other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. At December 31, 2023, and 2022, we had forward currency contracts with notional amounts aggregating $489.5 million and $187.2 million, respectively. We will continue to evaluate our currency risks, and in the future, may utilize foreign currency contracts more frequently.

Interest Rate Risk

We regularly invest excess cash in short-term investments that are subject to changes in interest rates. We believe that the market risk arising from holding these financial instruments is minimal because of our policy of investing in short-term financial instruments issued by highly rated financial institutions.

Our exposure related to adverse movements in interest rates is derived primarily from outstanding floating rate debt instruments that are indexed to short-term market rates. We currently have a higher level of fixed rate debt than variable rate debt, which limits the exposure to adverse movements in interest rates.

Commodity Price Risk

We are exposed to certain commodity risks associated with prices for various raw materials. The prices of copper and certain other raw materials, particularly niobium-tin, used to manufacture superconductors have increased significantly over the last decade. Copper and niobium-tin are the main components of low temperature superconductors and continued commodity price increases for copper and niobium, as well as other raw materials, may negatively affect our profitability. Periodically, we enter into commodity forward purchase contracts to minimize the volatility that fluctuations in the price of copper have on our sales of these products. At December 31, 2023, and 2022, we had fixed price commodity contracts with notional amounts aggregating $8.4 million and $8.9 million, respectively. The fair value of the fixed price commodity contracts at December 31, 2023, and 2022 was $0.3 million and $0.6 million, respectively. As commodity contracts settle, gains (losses) as a result of changes in fair values are adjusted to the contracts with the customers through revenues. We will continue to evaluate our commodity risks and may utilize commodity forward purchase contracts more frequently in the future.

Inflation Risk

We are subject to inflationary cost pressures across global operating supply networks. Certain components, parts, or materials are experiencing significant cost pressures that have impacted or may impact our cost of operations in future periods. Further, inflation has increased our selling, general and administrative expenses and may vary between countries in which we operate. We continue to evaluate these cost increases in relation to our new orders and may continue to see a negative impact on our financial results for a period of time.

ITEM 8 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Index of Consolidated Financial Statements

Page

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 238) 52

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023, and 2022 54

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 59

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Bruker Corporation

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Bruker Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the related consolidated statements of income, of comprehensive income, of redeemable noncontrolling interests and shareholders’ equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

BRKR US Equity

BRKR · 10-K · period ended 2023-12-31

ITEM 1A RISK FACTORS

ITEM 1B UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

ITEM 1C CYBERSECURITY

ITEM 2 PROPERTIES

ITEM 3 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

ITEM 4 MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

ITEM 5 MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

ITEM 6 RESERVED

ITEM 7 MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

ITEM 7A QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

ITEM 8 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

BRKR US Equity☆

BRKR · 10-K · period ended 2023-12-31

ITEM 1A RISK FACTORS

ITEM 1B UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

ITEM 1C CYBERSECURITY

ITEM 2 PROPERTIES

ITEM 3 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

ITEM 4 MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

ITEM 5 MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

ITEM 6 RESERVED

ITEM 7 MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

ITEM 7A QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

ITEM 8 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

BRKR US Equity